The power of a Grandmaster and a Foundation Establishment Cultivator can already split mountains and crush stones; bringing down a building is quite easy. Even though Shen Wang’s physical body is formidable, he wouldn’t just stand there and let himself be hit.
With one step, he dodged, glancing at the power of the opponent’s Thunder Palm and sneered, "Have you really smashed your own pot?"
"You’re still wasting words at a time , truly courting death."
Ge Changzhuang was already upon Shen Wang, his body swift as the wind, reaching out without hesitation to clutch Shen Wang’s throat.
His claws were sharp, like an eagle hunting its prey, clearly a claw technique, and a divine one at that. When he unleashed his claws, his whole body’s True Essence circulated according to a specific path, making the claws imbued with powerful True Essence.
Shen Wang quickly drew his blade, with a clang.
In the flicker of the blade’s light, a burst of evil qi erupted, not weaker than the opponent’s fire attribute spiritual essence infused into the blade, as it slashed fiercely toward the claws.
With the saying "an inch longer, an inch stronger," Ge Changzhuang’s claw technique didn’t dare clash hard against the Black Death Blade, especially with the fire attribute spiritual essence empowering it.
He hurriedly retracted, avoiding the blade edge by turning sideways.
The Black Death Blade released its sword essence, with evil qi soaring to the sky, flames rolling on its surface, scorching and domineering. The fierce blade flashed light, transforming into a massive blade over ten meters long.
The ground exploded, leaving a large crack from that slash.
The Innate Grandmasters nearby, who intended to attack Shen Wang, all stopped, caught off-guard by this slash, their expressions aghast.
Facing Shen Wang’s Black Death Blade, Ge Changzhuang was also taken aback. A year without crossing paths, has his power increased so much?
"You’ve reached Foundation Establishment!"
He landed several zhang away, his gaze filled with confusion and awe. A year ago, this person should have been at the Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation, having also cultivated the Martial Dao; logically, he shouldn’t have been close to Foundation Establishment yet.
After all, his talent wasn’t top-tier, yet he broke through so swiftly, and his saber technique had significantly improved. That previous slash made him feel danger.
Recalling the immense power gathered in that slash, he pondered further.
If this person relied on external means to achieve Foundation Establishment, how could his spiritual essence be so rich?
After forcing Ge Changzhuang back, Shen Wang didn’t bother with his ramblings. In a flash, he repositioned himself, landing near the ancestral house, already prepared to return.
Regarding Ge Changzhuang’s words, he merely let out a cold snort. He was not just at Foundation Establishment; he had already reached the mid-stage and had deliberately hidden part of his strength, merely demonstrating the ability of someone new to Foundation Establishment while diluting his spiritual essence.
To deal with someone of the same realm, he didn’t need to reveal all his capabilities unless Profound Thunder Zhenren took action against him.
He swung his blade left and right, slicing a few unfortunate fellows into two, having already returned to the array’s shield coverage of the ancestral home.
Ge Changzhuang attacked again, now with a pair of silver claws that no longer feared the blade edge.
Shen Wang returned a slash, clashing with the claws, both of them retreating a bit.
"Kid, I didn’t expect you could reach Foundation Establishment."
Ge Changzhuang, simultaneously affected by the array’s power, retreated several zhang further, his face displeased. He had personally come here, yet couldn’t keep this kid from returning to the array’s coverage. The chance seemed gone.
"Thanks to the pressure you gave me."
Shen Wang smiled. Suddenly, his ears twitched, and in the corner of his eye, a streak of lightning, moving at an astonishing speed, flashed close.
It was a sword light, frighteningly fast, giving Shen Wang a chilling sense, as if the next moment he would be slain by this sword.
Clearly, the sword contained a spiritual attack. Just like how his Black Death Blade could seize minds, this sword could paralyze those less powerful than its master, locking onto the target for an easier kill.
Fortunately, Shen Wang had begun Refining Spirit, his spiritual power had gathered much, not intimidated by the sword’s intention, and was unaffected. Without hesitation, with a thought, he activated the array, a circle of golden light emerged.
A loud bang, the lightning bolt was blocked a foot away, revealing a delicate long sword engraved with various magic patterns, gleaming with silver light, imbued with thunder power.
Even as the sword was blocked, Shen Wang instinctively dodged where its blade pointed. A ring of blue light formed a second layer of shield, just in case.
He coldly glanced afar, "Profound Thunder Zhenren truly regards me highly, to personally launch a sneak attack."
"Able to remain unaffected by my sword intent and activate the entire array; your willpower is quite strong."
In the cold voice from afar, no one appeared.
This was because Shen Wang had retreated into the array again, so Profound Thunder Zhenren did not show himself.
Yet, with his strength, even a kilometer away, he could still control a sword to kill enemies.
Shen Wang mused, "No wonder it’s so sharp, it feels like it might pierce one’s soul."
Cultivators can merge their intention with various weapons and magical treasures, refining a special intention imbued with the weapon’s edge, the most common being saber intent and sword intent, which can greatly enhance their weapon and treasure’s offensive power.
Having already merged man and sword and begun Refining Spirit, Shen Wang could also cultivate sword intent and saber intent, making his Black Death Saber Technique even more formidable.
"Kid, you have exhausted my patience, next time you dare come out, you’ll be slain without a doubt!"
While Shen Wang was pondering, Profound Thunder Zhenren spoke with murderous intent rising.
The blocked flying bird resounded with a clang, transforming into a streak of sword light and flying back, disappearing into the distance, with no further movement.
Shen Wang chuckled, since he could withstand the sword intent’s effects, he was no longer much afraid of the opponent, retorting, "Profound Thunder Zhenren is indeed persistent, doesn’t need my wife’s blood, yet stays here wasting time."
"Then it depends on how long your array can hold."
Profound Thunder Zhenren replied. For a year, he increasingly confirmed that Shen Wang possessed significant treasures.
Simultaneously, he also realized Shen Wang knew he intended to seize his treasure.
After all, after missing the time-point needing Paper Kite Spirit Blood, his objective was already obvious.
That is, the target was no longer the Paper Kite but Shen Wang himself, and he also knew Shen Wang could figure out his intention, now it’s a matter of who holds longer.
Once the array breaks, even if this person has reached Foundation Establishment, won’t he still be slain with a few sword strikes?
"Then let’s wait and see."
Shen Wang’s eyes narrowed, the longer he persisted, the more it proved he had significant wealth, this matter already had no room for reconciliation.
He no longer concerned himself with Profound Thunder Zhenren, watching the increasingly autonomous bandits gathering, shrugged and said, "You all continue to keep watch, I’ll head back first. Remember to collect your men’s corpses."
In the crowd, Gong Yu approached with a dark face. Those who died were his men, so naturally, he wasn’t in a good mood.
Yun Conghui followed, faintly saying, "Shen Wang, seems you can’t hold out for long, since you came out to loot, haven’t eaten much at least?"
"Sorry, just replenished quite a bit, enough to last for a while."
Shen Wang laughed, "Thanks for your contributions, next time bring more Spirit Rice and Spirit Flesh, my kids are growing and need to eat well."